SARAJEVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina), April 4 (SeeNews) – Bosnia’s tourism and travel industry contributed 799.7 million marka ($502.3 million/408.9 million euro) directly to the country's economy in 2017, equivalent to 2.6% of its gross domestic product (GDP), the World Travel&Tourism Council (WTTC) has said.
The direct GDP contribution of the country's tourism and travel industry is forecast to rise by 5.1% in 2018, and to rise by 5.3% per annum in the period 2018-2028, to 1.41 billion marka or 3.4% of total GDP in 2028, the WTTC said in its Travel&Tourism Economic Impact 2018 report.
The total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP was 2.94 billion marka or 9.6% of GDP in 2017, and is forecast to rise by 5.4% in 2018, and by 5.4% per annum to 5.23 billion euro or 12.6% of GDP in 2028.
In 2017, travel and tourism directly supported 23,000 jobs in Bosnia (3.2% of total employment). This support is expected to expand by 2.7% in 2018 and by 2.2% per annum to 30,000 jobs (4.4% of total employment) in 2028.
Travel and tourism investment last year was 326.5 million marka, 5.2% of total investment. It should add 6.3% in 2018, and rise by 5.2% per annum over the next ten years to 575.4 million marka in 2028, or 6.7% of total.
Leisure travel spending (inbound and domestic) generated 73.9% of direct travel and tourism GDP in 2017, or 1.72 billion marka, compared with 26.1% for business travel spending, or 607.7 million marka.
Leisure travel spending is expected to grow by 5.6% in 2018, while at the same time business travel spending will grow by 3.6%.
This year, Bosnia and Herzegovina is expected to attract 946,000 international tourist arrivals. By 2028, they are forecast to total 1,287,000.
(1 euro=1.95583 marka)